The present invention relates to stringed instruments, such as, acoustic guitars, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a novel neck construction for an acoustic guitar.
A typical acoustic guitar has a hollow body connected to a neck. The hollow body has a soundboard with a soundhole, a backboard spaced from the soundboard, and a shaped sidewall which extends between the soundboard and backboard. Typically, these components are constructed of choice pieces of wood in order to produce instruments of superior quality.
Prior art designs have attempted to improve upon the strength and durability of acoustic guitars without adversely affecting the playing qualities of the guitar. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,461,958 issued to Dresdner et al. and assigned to the assignee of the present application discloses an acoustic guitar assembly having a wooden soundboard with an improved soundboard bracing structure and an improved neck to body joint.
Acoustic guitar bodies have been manufactured from non-wooden high pressure laminate materials. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,874 issued to Witchel which discloses an acoustic guitar constructed from relatively inexpensive, non-wooden materials. The hollow body of the guitar, including the sidewall, soundboard and baseboard, is constructed of sheets of synthetic resin laminates, such as, melamine impregnated resins impressed over phenolic kraft layers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,952,592 which issued to Teel and which is assigned to the assignee of the present application provides another example of a guitar body made of high pressure laminate materials. U.S. Pat. No. 6,034,309 discloses a method of manufacturing a guitar body made of high pressure laminate materials. Such guitars made of non-wooden laminates provide an economic alternative for the purchaser of a high quality acoustic guitar, and due to dwindling wood resources, provide an ecologically-friendly alternative to traditional solid and laminated tonewoods.
The necks of high quality acoustic guitars, particularly those manufactured by the present assignee, are made of conventional wooden materials, such as mahogany. This is true even if the guitar body is made from high pressure laminate materials as disclosed by the above cited references. The exterior surface of the conventional wooden guitar neck requires numerous finishing steps. For example, a spray-on finish is applied to the neck to protect the wood and to provide it with a wanted appearance. In addition, a fingerboard is attached to the neck. The fingerboard is typically made of a relatively expensive material and requires an amount of labor and time for proper installation on the guitar neck.
Therefore, although the above-mentioned acoustic guitar assemblies accomplish their intended purposes, there is a need for a high quality, durable acoustic guitar which has an improved neck construction. The neck should be made from a relatively inexpensive material which does not require significant finishing processing during manufacture. In addition, the neck should have improved durability and strength and be capable of withstanding the forces created by the tensioned strings of the guitar.
With the foregoing in mind, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a high quality acoustic guitar which can be manufactured economically relative to traditional acoustic guitar models.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an acoustic guitar with a neck constructed of a relatively inexpensive material which does not adversely affect the tonal qualities of the guitar.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an acoustic guitar with a unique neck construction specifically designed for use with a non-wooden guitar body.
More specifically, the present invention provides a musical instrument having a body with a bridge, an elongate neck with a headstock, and strings under tension extending from the headstock to the bridge along the neck. The neck is made of a solid piece of machined plywood material that is glued with and at least partially impregnated with a phenolic resin.
According to another concept of the present invention, a method of manufacturing an acoustic guitar is provided. A solid piece of plywood material glued with and at least partially impregnated with a phenolic resin is machined into a guitar neck, and then the neck is sanded and buffed. The phenolic resin in the plywood material provides the neck which has been sanded and buffed with an appropriate finish. Thus, the requirement of additional finishing steps is eliminated.